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It is so refreshing to read this. So many people in education today forgot these fundamentals and I think the world needs more of you in the conversation. A few highlights for me:

-"When learning a new skill, a gymnast and his coach will first break down the skill into various parts."

-"A lot of gymnastics is doing the same thing over and over again. And most people don’t like doing that."

As a teacher, I try to make learning as fun as humanely possible for my students. As a coach I tried to do the same, but the reality is that repetition is hard work and often it is not very fun. What is fun, though, is winning because you're better because you practiced over and over and over.

-"their fundamentals were so spot on that learning new skills became extremely easy"

It takes maturity and perspective to understand that dedication fundamentals increases your ability to master "higher-order" skills in sports or the classroom. Students can't imagine creative solutions to problems or critically think about information without a broad, deep schema constructed through dedication to fundamentals. As you noted, gymnasts can't perform higher-order techniques without dedication to improving core strength, flexibility, etc.